>From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >This is one of the main stream press reports about the Turkish Government >backing of their intention political prisoners in Isolation cells. >We have no idea yet about the impact of this news on the hungerstrike. > >Turkey, facing protests, puts off >controversial prison plan > >By HARMONIE TOROS >The Associated Press >12/9/00 2:05 PM > >ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- With hunger-striking inmates falling ill, Turkey >on Saturday postponed indefinitely the transfer of prisoners from open >wards to small cells, where they fear abuse by authorities. > >The decision came after human rights activists and prisoners' relatives and >lawyers stepped up their protests of the transfer plan. Police clashed with >hundreds of demonstrators in downtown Istanbul on Saturday, detaining >200, activists and news reports said. In the capital, Ankara, about 1,000 >people gathered in a peaceful protest. > >Turkey's dormitory-style prison wards house up to 100 inmates at a time, >often in poor conditions. But prisoners fear the smaller cells, which would >hold one to three people, would make them more vulnerable to torture and >abuse at the hands of guards. > >Hundreds of inmates have gone on hunger strikes to protest the plan, >and at least three were in critical condition Saturday, relatives of the >prisoners said. Some have lost their eyesight, others are too weak to walk >and are suffering from kidney problems. > >Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said the new prisons would not be >opened until a consensus is reached. It was unclear if the step would be >enough to end the hunger strikes. > >"We don't want anybody's life to be in danger and we don't want them to >suffer any permanent damage (to their health)," Turk said Saturday. > >The minister called on the prisoners' relatives to persuade them to >abandon their hunger strikes. Husnu Ondul, head of the independent >Human Rights Association, praised the government's move and said he >expected protests to end. > >"It would be opposite to common sense to insist on the transfer," Ondul >said. "I think that the prisoners will also have common sense and finish >their hunger strike." > >International human rights groups say torture is common in Turkish >prisons. They also fear inmates could be placed in strict isolation in the >new prisons. > >Turk said the new prisons "will be re-evaluated with respect to social >sensitivities, by taking into account contemporary and international >standards." > >Authorities say the large, crowded wards are difficult to manage because >outlawed political groups control them and continue their activities inside >the prisons. Riots and hostage-takings are common. > >Hunger strikes are also frequent, and sometimes deadly. A dozen inmates >starved themselves to death in 1996 before the government abandoned >plans to transfer prisoners to remote jails where they faced solitary >confinement. > >Turk noted that some of the hunger strikers could be freed by President >Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who is reviewing a proposed amnesty law approved >by parliament Friday; it would grant amnesty to half of Turkey's 72,000 >prisoners. > >-- >Press Agency Ozgurluk >In Support of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey >http://www.ozgurluk.org >DHKC: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for geopolitics. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
